


Guard my body (and Mind)

by Gemmie_Bear



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire, Bodyguard Derek Hale, But tries to be better, F/M, Female Stiles Stilinski, John Stilinski is a bad father
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-10-28
Packaged: 2019-04-16 18:20:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 15,852
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14170788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Gemmie_Bear/pseuds/Gemmie_Bear
Summary: Derek Hale is employed to ensure the safety of Stiles Stilinski; the tempestuous and temperamental daughter of someone she would rather forget.





	1. Chapter 1

This was the 16th night in a row he had stayed awake, staring at the ceiling. Thinking. Sleep, dancing just out of his bleary reach. But thinking, constantly. He _was_ happy, he knew that much. Sure, maybe some others were always pestering him, ‘Derek are you ok?’ or ‘Derek, you need to let the world fall from your shoulders, you know it’s not all your responsibility.’. He hated that one most of all, but could never accurately describe _why_ he became so riled when anyone told him to just be a little more carefree. That’s what he wasn’t. Carefree is the last word Derek, and surely anyone who actually knew him, would use to describe him. Yes, surly worked, more than he wanted to admit. Moody. Partial to bouts of solitude. Silent. But he was also intelligent, and caring. His mother always instilled a deep need to care in her children, but Derek felt it was more than simply his mother’s wishes that he was so caring. He never felt bound, or obligated. He just did care, wholly.

 Something still had him sleepless though. This unexplained, slightly hidden below the surface _need_. What was the need? He had yet to figure that out. It felt like a mirage; every time he felt it on the tip of his tongue or caught a glimpse in his mind’s eye, it was gone. A puff of smoke. A wordless vocalization. Nothing.

 To say it was infuriating was definitely an understatement, and Derek was aware that the pack had been avoiding him as of late, most likely under orders from his mother. ‘Let the boy figure out his mind, let him _be_ ,’ she would have stressed, rubbing the necks of all those around her, easing the suspense. Calming frazzled nerves, nerves that were frazzled because of the figurative fire emanating from Derek through the pack bonds.

 He couldn’t find it in him to care now though, too wrapped up in his own confusion to worry about what the others needed, and although that filled him with mitigating guilt when he dwelled on it, he knew that whatever was eating at the corners of his mind NEEDED to be found. Needed to be brought to light, solely for sleep, and hopefully it brought a certain calmness with it, but Derek had no guarantee of that. When he had spoken to Deaton, his mother’s emissary, he had somehow compared Derek to a bird and the problem to a worm, which may or may not be able to escape into the ground upon being sighted by the bird. That was a whole other infuriating situation, but Derek was used to Deaton’s odd way of talking, his skirting of issues.

 Once, as a younger child, he had approached his mother, complaining about Deaton and his never quite sufficient answers. His mother smiled, cradling his cheeks in her hands as she lowered herself to his level. ‘My love,’ she said, her tender eyes raking his face, a small smile dancing on her lips and in her eyes, ‘if Deaton simply gave you the answers, how would you begin to figure out what things mean, for yourself? Hmmm? Imagine, little one, that you asked him how to fix a problem, like a simple math equation. He gives you the answer, but it only works for that specific problem. What happens if a more complex equation comes next? How would you know how to fix that?’ She jumped up, smiling and humming as Derek was lost in thought, only to have his reverie broken a few seconds later when a spoon appeared in front of his face, and when he looked up to his mother, he saw her smiling, a giant smile on her face, her finger on her lips. She showed him the ice cream tub and he smiled too, his tiny shoulders going up around his ears in the excitement of their little secret. They sat on the kitchen floor, whispering and giggling quietly for what felt like a lifetime, but there was a part of Derek that to this day, would do anything to go back to that carefree moment.

 Still, he stared up in the darkness. He took a deep breathe, and decided to walk. He grabbed pants on his way out, and shoved them on as he was going down the stairs. He heard all the quiet, slow heartbeats around him. All lost to sleep, a sleep that was lost to Derek. He reached for the front door handle when his mother’s quiet voice broke the beating silence.

 “Derek?”

 He turned, and saw her coming down the stairs, his shoulders sagging in guilt.

 “Sorry I woke you, mom.”

 She smiled, dragging the back of her fingers down his stubbled cheek. “Don’t worry my love, do you mind if I accompany you?”

 He nodded, opening the door and let her exit first. The wind was chilly, Autumn fully in the air. The grass almost freezing beneath their uncovered feet as they walked to the tree line, where they both stopped simultaneously. Reveling in the quiet power of the Preserve. The sounds of small animals scattering around, last minute preparations for the cold winter coming. He heard the water from the creek, slowly making its way to the river, and finally the small lake within the Preserve.

 Derek looked down suddenly as his mom wound her fingers in his, gripping tight, and he looked up to her face, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “Derek, I’m worried about you.” She spoke so quietly, that the wind almost immediately swept her words away, the pine trees whistling in the distance.

 He looked towards the trees again, sadness gripping his heart, and in the stuttering aftermath, he knew. He finally knew. A shiver ran down the length of his spine, and it had nothing to do with him being shirtless in the nippy air.

 She tightened her fingers around his, and he looked back to her, both fear and hope present in his eyes. She nodded, a small, sad smile giving way to a single tear that ran its course down her face before he stopped it on her jaw, wiping away the wetness before he pulled her in tight, distantly aware that this was the first time he had hugged his mother like this, in years. The last time, her chin could rest on his head, and now it was his chin on her head. He closed his eyes, and together they slumped to the wet, cold grass, holding onto each other as they cried, both in sadness and happiness. Both equally strong, both equally world-changing.


	2. Chapter 2

He had always been resourceful, that’s what his mother had always said. That’s what he had believed from the moment those words left his mother’s lips, because she always knew exactly what to tell him, and there was no doubt he would have believed her if she had said that one day pigs would design the latest technology and we would become farm animals instead. He had complete faith in her, and somehow, she in him.

 This revelation of sorts comes as natural to him as breathing, as he slowly packed his bag. He was leaving majority of his items here, at _home_ , and he was eager to get on the road now. He and his mother had sat on the wet grass until the sun had broken the horizon, casting an orange glow onto all the trees in its path. They talked feverishly at times, and then sat in silence, time stretching on as they made plans and agreements.

 The first, was to not tell anyone. The pack would all feel his difference in demeanor through the bond, but they would wait to be spoken to. They would also feel a shift in his bond, a shift they will have never experienced before. This too, they would wait for an explanation of. They wouldn’t barge in and demand answers. Well, at least, most of them wouldn’t.

 “Where the hell are you going?”

 He pinched the bridge of his nose, having heard her angry, fast footsteps, stomping her way up the stairs. He had hoped she would stomp right on past, but Laura never did exactly what he thought she would.

 “Derek.” She grabbed his arm and pulled, trying to move him to face her. He looked over his shoulder, and tried his best to not smile. She was shorter than him, of course. Slightly taller than his mother, with long jet-black hair and the deepest brown eyes he had ever seen. He knew she was beautiful, although her personality usually scared away any potential mates. “Derek, I swear to fuck, I will beat the ever-living daylights out of you if you don’t open your mouth.”

 See, _that’s_ the Laura he knew, the scary sister he loved. He slowly opened his mouth, and closed it, like a fish. She threw herself at him and he found himself laughing as she tried to physically convince him to talk.

 “Okay, okay!” He laughed out, having let her climb onto his back, where she had her teeth around his ear, biting hard, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. He would never openly admit to taking it easy on her, because god knows that’s not something he would live through. Ever.

 She jumped down, and he could practically smell her pride. “So?”

 He sat down, and patted the bed next to him, where she sat, a frown settling on her face.

 “I am leaving.” He spoke quietly, and gave her a look as she opened her mouth, before she could make a sound. She shut it with a snap and gestured for him to continue. “I finally realized what’s wrong.” He heard her heart beat faster, a small smile forming before she could control her features. “I don’t want to be a _part_ of a pack, I need to feel more independent. I need freedom.”

 She stayed silent for a beat, before she shook her head slightly, “you don’t like the pack?”

 He closed his eyes. “That’s not what I said, not even close.” He waited until she gestured again for him to continue. “I love it here, I love the pack, I love being close to mom. I love living in the house we grew up in, I love the Preserve, but I’m not truly happy. You know that.” He added the last past in a hushed voice, purposefully pulling on the bond he shared with her, so she understood. “I need to do something else with my life, I need to start something else. So, mom and I discussed it last night. I’m leaving today for New York. I’m not starting a new pack,” he quickly threw out as she opened her mouth, eyes blazing gold, before she gained control and settled again, “all I’m doing is branching out. Mom knows of a small unclaimed territory in New York City, she never made a move, because, well. Its _New York City._ Busy. People. Smells.” He visibly shuddered, but shook himself out of it. “I’m going to claim it, for the Hale Pack as a whole.”

 Laura shifted next to him, her lips pursed as she crossed her arms. This time, Derek knew EXACTLY what she was going to say.

 “Yep, I’m sure a Beta will do so well in claiming territory.”

 He looked at her for a few seconds, before he closed his eyes, holding his breath as he pulled onto his new spark. He opened his eyes, seeing the shock blossom all over Laura’s face, before he let the red die down, leaving his eyes their normal green.

 “WHAT DID YOU DO!” She yelled, jumping up and running out the door before he could react. He followed her quickly, shaking his head when he saw her jump from the landing into the entrance hall below, not even bothering with the stairs. She pushed through other pack members as she forced her way to the kitchen, where she could smell their mother. Derek followed, slowing down as he entered the kitchen. Laura was turning their mother this way and that, looking for marks, a sign, anything that would explain Derek’s new Alpha spark. The pack had followed them in, following the distressed bond, some already shifted.

 “Well, looks like now is as good a time as any.” Talia reached out, knowing Derek would understand. He walked forward, taking her hand, and they stepped in front of all the pack members, and Derek felt his palms sweat. This had never been done, at least not that he had ever heard in his lifetime. He felt his mother shift slightly, leaning on him to get him to concentrate, and he looked at her, returning her small smile. She turned to the pack, flashing her Alpha eyes, “I would like to officially introduce, Alpha Derek Hale.” He flashed his own eyes, and took in the immediately downcast eyes of the pack, showing their respects.

 All except Laura. “What?”

 Talia laughed, squeezing his hand before she let go, going to embrace Laura. “I will explain everything, if we all sit down and eat.” The pack murmured their agreements and all separated. Each doing their routine tasks before a meal, some grabbing ingredients, some starting to cook, some setting the table, other wrangling the children into clean clothes. Derek sighed, for once feeling both in and out of place. He would normally be helping to cook, but now, as an Alpha, and Alpha not quite in charge of the pack, he was treated like a guest. He was pushed towards the head of the table, opposite from where his mother would sit, and he was quietly offered a glass of beer, which he took, gratefully.

 

With food and beer and wine and juice for the children (who couldn’t give a rat’s ass either way about the new Alpha), Talia began to explain.

 “Many moons ago, it had occurred that an Alpha had somehow seemingly split her spark with a loved one. The story gets a little muddled here, some are sure it was her lover, some think it was one of her children. But, whomever received the spark is of no consequence. This episode passed, and was almost forgotten, until another Alpha shared _her_ spark, again with someone close to her.”

 By now, the children were listening with rapture. It was the perfect story, and if Talia could do anything, it was tell a damn good story!

 “It was around this time that one blaring pattern seemed to be occurring; the Alpha’s were both female, and they were both the first-born wolf in the family, who would ultimately receive the Alpha spark from their own Alpha, when the time was right. It would seem, that this pattern is true, because here, at our dining table, I, the first-born wolf, shared my own spark with my son.”

 She looked up, making eye contact with Derek who had been mindlessly moving the food around his plate.

 “From what little history Deaton could find on such short notice, there does not seem to be any reduction in Alpha power, upon the splitting, and there seems to be no timeframe or expiry for the new Alpha, whereby the spark would vanish. It seemed, if the last, and only, two observed cases are believed, we can both coincide in the same pack, without any disruptions of power.”

 Derek smiled, already having heard a snippet of this last night when Talia had given him power. Trust his mother to be one of the almighty who could do such a rare thing.


	3. Chapter 3

It seemed that the atmosphere changed with a snap of someone’s fingers. The tensions dissolved, and the joking and laughing began. The pack believed Talia and her explanations that they were at no more of a risk now than they were before, and that was enough for them. They, Like Derek, trusted her unequivocally.  

 Lunch ended, again, each member doing their part in cleaning up, leaving Talia and Derek at the table. He moved to the seat closest to her, and gripped her hand.

 "Thank you, mom. I’m sorry I caused you all this grief, I-“

 “Stop.” She smiled when he did, “you are my son, there is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, you have to know that. I want what’s best for my, our, entire pack, and if you need to get away, there is nothing that would stop me from helping you do so. I have arranged for funds to be transferred-“

 “No, mom-“

 “And I specified that they were not to be returned.” She grinned at him, knowing he would have tried convincing her otherwise. As if she would let her first son go without any money. Please.

 “Thank you, mom. Really.”

 They both stood, pulling the other in for a bone crushing hug as the sound of something dropping to the floor forced them to separate and look towards the dining room door. Laura was standing with a bag at her feet, her arms crossed, an eyebrow lifted high on her forehead. “Right, when are we leaving?”

 Derek stared, motionless, as Talia laughed, leaning on the table.

 “Of course you would decide to go too, I don’t know why I didn’t expect this.”

 Laura looked guilty for a brief moment until she was shoved forward, her arms shooting out to brace against the table to break her fall.

 “Oh, jesus, sorry Lo! But I’m also coming, I have packed and I sure as hell ain’t giving the stuff back.”

 From behind Cora a shout could be heard, and she grimaced, ducking beneath Laura’s arm to run to her mother.

 “Cora, you cannot take my hoodies!” Laura laughed as she moved out the way, letting Josh rush past and barrel towards Cora who was laughing, cowering behind Talia who just gracefully moved out of the line of fire, leaving Cora and Josh to wrestle on the floor.

 She looked towards Derek, a solemn expression on her face. “Are you ok with this?”

He looked at Laura, who fleetingly looked like she might have been pleading, before her stoic expression slid into place, and then towards Cora and his youngest brother, who were now trying to discuss custody arrangements for the hoodies in question. He looked back to his mother, and nodded, a smile breaking out on his face as Laura pretty much tackled him, whispering ‘thank you’, and he held her tight, glad that he wasn’t about to go through this alone.

 The three of them piled into the Camaro, waving goodbye as the pack slowly disappeared from sight. Saying goodbye to his mother was one of the hardest things Derek had ever done, and wasn’t ready to admit he had cried. She had kissed them all, with Josh and James beside her, and told them to call every day, no matter the time. Derek hugged his brother’s goodbye, getting into the car quickly where he waited for Laura and Cora, trying to subtly dry his eyes.

 They had decided to drive rather than fly, because Derek wanted to be in as much control as possible, and flying was pure torture. Also, when he says 'they' decided, he really meant that he said it's the Camaro or nothing, and his sisters had no room to argue with him. He wanted to get there as fast or as slow as he needed, and his sisters had begrudgingly agreed, as long as they did sight-seeing alone the way. It was a long 4500km they had to cover, and he felt that maybe a couple stops along the way would be acceptable.

Just a couple though.


	4. Chapter 4

They ended up making so many stops that Derek stopped counting, but felt happier the further they got. He missed his mother, but knowing that this was what he needed was the perfect motivator. They ended up making the 40-hour trip in 12 days. They stopped where they wanted, and drove through the night when Derek needed the solitude. All in all, it had been an incredible almost 2 weeks by the time they arrived in New York, and Derek was slightly disappointed he hadn’t dragged t out longer. They got a hotel room for the first night, hoping that they would find an apartment the next day.

 Turns out, they needed almost another whole week before they could all agree on the right apartment. They purchased a reasonably sized apartment for the three of them, with enough room to not trip over one another, and a guest room. Laura and Cora vehemently declared that they were to decorate the place, stating that if Derek had any say, they would end up living with just one sofa and a desk. Derek didn’t think they were wrong, but definitely didn’t tell them that.

 The area they lived in, within the small unclaimed territory, was just on the border of another pack, and Derek personally went to the Alpha to explain that he meant no harm, and was not looking expand the small territory he now held, which held Alpha Deno’s attention, before he granted his explicit permission, as well as welcoming Derek and his sisters to his outlying areas.

 As he travelled home, he enjoyed the strong bonds of his sisters, and felt greatly comforted by their approaching presence. As soon as he entered the apartment, they were all over him, asking about Alpha Deno and how the meeting had gone, and both sighed in relief when he told them Alpha Deno actually sent his regards to them both.

 The next few months went by fairly quickly, the business having been set up incredibly quickly and seemed to be thriving, if the recommendations from their clients was anything to go by.

 

Another addition that Derek had made, about a month after moving into NYC, was pack enlargement. He had found Isaac, Erica and finally Boyd, all needing the Bite because of various ‘human’ issues. Isaac had grown up with a highly abusive father, and Derek had found out by chance one night, while walking the territory. He smelt the desperation and utter brokenness before he even saw Isaac, and it stirred the need to help, to _care_.

 He found Erica through Laura, who had let out an anguished scream one morning, Derek rushing from sleep to her aid without a second thought. He had needed a moment to clear his head when Laura showed him a video in her phone, playing it at least 4 times before Derek understood. The poor girl had epilepsy. And someone had recorded it, his cruel laughter ringing out in the background of the video. Laura told him who had posted the video, and where he lived, and slowly they pieced together the story of where to find Erica.

 Boyd was forgotten, if Derek could describe him that way. His family gone. Derek had seen him regularly on his evening walk of the territory, and both had become familiar enough that they would nod slowly in greeting as they passed. Derek could smell no one else on Boyd, his scent pure and undiluted by other people. He followed him one night, where he saw Boyd enter an ice rink, tending to the surface for hours, alone, before he packed up and locked up, heading home, where Derek saw – and smelled – that he lived alone. He picked up no other scents at all, which caused Derek so much anguish. How could anyone live in solitude, surrounded by the sheer volume of people in NY?

 He had spoken to them all, separately of course, with Cora and Laura flanking him, offering a silent support for both Derek and the others, bringing a sense of calm. All 3 had reacted pretty much the same way when Derek explained they were werewolves, and could help them. He could offer them what each needed, a place to be happy, to be loved. To be appreciated. For Erica, he stressed increased healing speed, which had her on her feet in seconds, offering her arm to him, a silent plea in her eyes.

 All in all, Derek was finally content. He still felt something was missing, but it seemed obvious to him that the missing piece was his pack, his whole pack. His mother. He hadn’t seen them in over 3 months, and while he could draw comfort from his new pack, he still missed the sense of togetherness his mother fostered so easily.


	5. Chapter 5

Derek was woken one morning suddenly, his phone blaring next to him on the bed.

“Derek Hale.”

 “Hi, Mr Hale, my name is John Stilinski. I received your number from Senator Johnston, can you talk?”

 Derek sat and scrubbed a hand down his face quickly, and got out of bed, grabbing some pants to cover his nakedness before he stalked to the kitchen, where he could hear the others.

 “Absolutely sir, how can I help you?”

He silently thanked Laura as she passed him a notebook and pen, and he began taking notes.

 “I need protection for my daughter, I am afraid I have put her in danger.”

 “Danger?”

Derek heard the man sigh, “unfortunately I believe she is being targeted in order to get to me. I, uh, I'm responsible for a man losing a hefty sum of money, and I am aware that he is after me, and that I can deal with, but I just, I can’t…”

 Derek nodded, still taking notes. “Has your daughter been receiving threats?”

 “Well, that’s the problem, I don’t know.”

 Derek scrunched his eyes slightly, “how can you be sure that she is being targeted then?”

 “A comment was made, in passing, when I received an unexpected call from the, uh, guy. He said that plaid looks good on us Stilinski’s. I wasn’t wearing any god damn plaid, Mr Hale.”

 “Sounds reasonable enough to me, sir. Shall we discuss price?”

 Derek barely finished his sentence when the other man, John-something, was trying to talk over him.

 “No, I don’t care about the cost. She needs protection. The only problem is I can’t offer you payment yet, until this is sorted.“ Derek’s eyebrows lowered. “If they get wind I am having her protected, I don’t know how they will react.”

 Derek pulled the phone away from his face, closed his eyes and growled quietly at the ceiling before he composed himself again. “Fine. But I want written confirmation of this, and I will get my payment, _sir.”_

 The response was a haughty “please, I am not one to go back on my word, Mr Hale! Will you help me or not?”

 Derek gathered the rest of the details, and had everyone packed and out the door in less than 30 minutes, on their way to the address Mr Stilinski had given them, with strict instruction to call once they are in the house, using a key left under the front door mat. Derek immediately wanted to knock _Stilinski’s_ teeth out, how archaic is leaving a key out? ESPECIALLY when he is so worried for his daughter’s safety?

 

Derek let them in with the key under the mat, and purposefully placed the key in his suit pocket. “Hello?” He called out, but the house seemed eerily quiet. He told the others to stay put as he slowly walked through the quiet and dark house; despite it being midmorning, the curtains were drawn. He scanned the entire house, not hearing any heartbeats or smelling blood, which he took as a good sign.

 “Come on in guys, set up in the lounge, but try keep our shit under control, ok?” He glared at Erica, knowing her tendencies to spread out for comfort. Derek had learned from Stilinski that there was no timeframe for the job. They could be here for days, weeks or months. There was no telling at this stage. The best they could do is set up in as small an area as possible and be as least encroaching as possible.

 Danny gathered his own marked boxes and began setting up the necessary surveillance outside the house, and along the perimeter wall, while Boyd and Isaac began wiring the home lines, to record all calls coming and going. Cora and Laura began setting up the external alarm system; motion detectors, security lights, the works. Derek had never demanded audio and visual surveillance within the houses or offices, because with almost his entire team being werewolves, they could hear and smell more than enough. Additionally, it was unconditionally agreed that the client was with one wolf at all times, barring the use of bathrooms which were scanned first. The fact that the clients had no idea of them being werewolves was a bonus for Derek, as much as it was a nuisance. In their first job, Derek had narrowly managed to not get shot while shielding the client, which had taught him one HELL of a good lesson. If they get shot, they heal. That shit is hard to explain. He decided that one of the team, Laura volunteered, had to take a course on advanced FX makeup, just in case they did get injured, they could keep up pretences as much as possible.

 Another aspect, brought to his attention by his mother, was their initial reaction to fear or danger, which was to wolf out. That wouldn’t do, and Derek and his team had been working tirelessly to either disarm an assailant, or reach for their own gun. This was proving to be difficult, as none of the wolves were partial to the idea of guns to begin with, and with his newest betas only being a few months old, they were just managing to control their shift, never mind control their adrenaline and reactions.

 Derek was running through all of these still-new lessons as he surveyed the house, going from room to room and installing locks on all the windows and exterior doors. He checked the ceilings to ensure no one could enter them, and locked the hatch too. As he looked out the bedroom window, which looked onto the back garden, he saw the team all working on the cabling for the cameras, eventually to be lead into the house. He smiled, a sense of ease settling as he saw how quick they were to complete jobs, and assist in others’ jobs.

 He slowly made his way back through the house, checking all the windows once more as he walked to the lounge. A door closed, the front door, and he quickly worked at calming himself. The house was full of the smell of his betas, and the woman who lived here, and all these scents were still so fresh he had a hard time deciphering who it was that entered the house. The heartbeat was calm, and the footfalls quiet. He assumed it was a beta until he turned the corner and a fist connected with his nose, a high pitched scream piercing his ears.

 “Ow, fuck,” he gripped his nose, making a show of putting his head back to pretend to stem the flow of blood, as if it hadn’t already stopped. “Um, hi.” He spoke as he looked down to Ms Stilinski, who had wide eyes, her hands clasped in front of her chest. “I’m Derek Hale, your head of security.”

 He watched as her eyes closed slightly, her head cocking to the side. “Excuse me? Why are you in my house?”

 He let go of his nose, leaving the drying blood for now as he regarded her, her heartbeat steady. “You don’t know about this?”

 She took a step back, seconds before the front door opened and she practically jumped back into Derek, away from the team that was piling into the front room.

 “Team, this is Ms Stilinski. She has a sharp right hook.” He looked at her from the corner of his eye as a small smile appeared on her face, before she forced her expression to a harder one. “She was not aware that we were coming.” He pulled his phone out and dialled Mr Stilinski’s number, who answered on the third ring.

 “Mr Hale?”

 “Sir, we are at the house. Your daughter was not expecting us.”

 The line was silent for a beat, before John sighed exasperatedly, “That’s why I told you to call me first!”

 “With all due respect sir, locking down and securing a house is more important than calling you. You should have informed me that she wasn’t aware.”

 All through this, Stiles had been in a state of shock, standing looking between all the strangers in her house, holding cables and pliers and boxes, and was that a camera? Jesus. What had he done this time. She reached out to grab Derek’s phone without thinking, and scoffed when he held the phone higher so she couldn’t reach it. She smirked as she grabbed her own phone, and Derek frowned, trying to listen to John explain why he hadn’t told his daughter, and to who she was speaking to.

 “Hi Maria, please do me a MASSIVE favour, I need to talk to my father urgently, but he is on another call. Tell him it cannot wait.”

 Derek heard the man on the other line groan a few seconds later. “Mr Hale, Stiles is calling me, I’ll just...” He hung up, leaving Derek scowling at Stiles as she smiled sweetly before her expression turned almost murderous. It took him aback, and he felt himself tense up.

 “What the actual fuck John?” He heard the quick mumble on the phone, cut off a few seconds later, “oh you literally can go sit on it dude, I am not calling you dad. I made that VERY clear to you!” She walked away, eyes wide as she skirted the team, making her way to the kitchen. “No, you don’t get to do this. I am not going to be involved in your shit! Leave me out of it!” Derek had followed her, and watched as she threw the phone into the empty sink, grimacing at the loud clatter. She moved to the window, before Derek could stop her, and she pushed futilely at the frame before she saw the lock. She pointed at it slowly, “the fuck is that.”

 Derek heard Isaac snigger behind him, and he took a deep breathe. “As I tried to explain, I am Derek Hale, your head of security. This,” he motioned with his head behind him, “is the rest of the team, Isaac, Erica, Boyd, Laura, Danny and Cora.” He knew they would lift a hand as he called them, and Stiles’ moving eyes told him that he was right. “Your father-“

 “Sperm donor.”

 Derek frowned, “excuse me?”

 “Don’t call him my father. He was a sperm donor. Go on.”

 Damn the sass was strong in this one. He pinched the bridge of his nose, before Isaac spoke up, the rustle of papers behind him. “The file doesn’t say that, it makes no mention of him being a sperm-“

 “Oh my god shut up dude!” She scrubbed her hands down her face, “he has never been involved in my life, and then all of a sudden, after 20 years, he wanted in on my life, so yes he and my mother had a _thing_ , but he doesn’t deserve to be called my damn father!” She was practically yelling at the end and grabbed onto the counter to steady herself.

 Derek turned to the others, talking quietly to them, “continue the set-up, someone else will need to upgrade the locks on the front door, I didn’t get there yet.” They turned, leaving Derek with Stiles who was staring blankly into space at her feet.

 

“Ms Stilinski?”

 “Stiles.” She whispered, closing her eyes.

 “Ok, Stiles. Will you please sit down,” he pulled out a chair from the small dining table in the kitchen and pushed it closer to her, relieved when she actually sat down.

 “This has something to do with the picture, doesn’t it?”

 Derek perked up, eyes narrowing. “What picture?”

 She visibly seemed to fold in on herself, her arms going to wrap around herself.

 “Stiles? What picture did you receive?”

 She slowly looked up, and Derek was surprised by the sudden blank expression as she got to her feet, rummaging through her handbag. She pulled out a ratty envelope, and handed it to Derek as she sat down again. He opened it slowly, trying to not touch too much of the envelope, as Boyd may be able to lift a fingerprint. He was suddenly so proud of his team and their quickly developed skills, but quelled it for later as he saw the photo. It was of Stiles. Sitting at this very dining table. In a damned plaid shirt. He quickly ran the photo to the team, before Boyd grabbed it, muttering about too many prints being too much work. Derek returned to Stiles, now taking the seat opposite her.

“When did you receive that?”

 “About 2 weeks ago.”

 Derek felt himself pale. She had lived with this for 2 weeks, and she hadn’t even told anyone?

 “Before you ask, I didn’t tell _him_ because I don’t like him and I didn’t want him to think I need his help.”

 “You could have been hurt Stiles, they know where you live.”

 She snapped her head up, “you don’t think I know that?” She got up quickly, and instinctually Derek followed her. She stormed to her bedroom and yanked open her wardrobe door, and Derek’s jaw hit the floor.

 “You think I don’t know that I’m at risk? You think I don’t know what shit my da-uh, John, is involved in? Because I fucking do!” She pointed at the board, which was a wasted movement as Derek hadn’t taken his eyes off of it, taking in each detail she had put up, trying to find, what exactly?

 “Where did you get this information?” He pointed towards the police files, files he knew were confidential. They also told him who the elusive _guy_ Mr Stilinski kept speaking of. Gerard Argent.

 She puffed out her chest slightly, a proud small smile on her lips. “I may have been able to source them.”

 Derek looked back to her, trying to not smile, “so you hacked the police system?”

 She floundered for a little before she composed herself, “hey, just, I dunno, look at the information again!” He did, frowning in case he missed something when he saw her trying to sneak away from him. He shot an arm out, grabbing her upper arm, a smirk on his face. “Ok, maybe, don’t tell though?”

 He laughed, letting her go and nodding a little, before picking up the board and taking it to the others for processing.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I so wanted to keep updating this daily, and then I had no Internet all damn weekend!

“So, do you normally punch people when you first meet them?”

Derek looked up at an all too smug Isaac, almost snarling. He knew they were going to rib him for this, but he certainly didn’t have to take it laying down. He continued to wipe the wet cloth against his face, trying to remove the dry blood.

“Oh, dude, he is just lucky I leave my baseball bat in my bedroom.”

“Baseball bat?” Isaac looked from Stiles to Derek, pure enjoyment written all over his face.

“Yep. My old trusty bat.”

Derek couldn’t help but pipe in, “so, exactly how many people have you actually hit with this apparent prime specimen of a bat?”

She blushed slightly, and mumbled her reply quickly, “well no one, because you are the first people to have broken into my house.”

“It’s not called breaking in when we have the key.” He fished the key from his pocket, showing it off, watching her eyes widen again.

“Where did you get that?”

“Under the front door mat. Really, superb safety, right there.” Derek grunted, pointedly looking at Stiles.

She flipped him off, and Erica snorted before she could stop herself, and tried to cover up by faking a coughing fit.

“That’s it Erica, keep coughing or I’ll choke you until you do.”

Her eyes glinted excitedly and a truly feral grin spread on her face, “don’t tease me with a good time, Derek.”

Boyd promptly threw his cell phone at her, Isaac cheering when it bounced off her head, while Stiles just cackled, turning a bright red.

“I, uh, can’t say that this is how I imagined a security team to work.”

Derek shrugged, looking at Isaac, who was smiling at Stiles. “It’s nice to lighten the load, I guess? I mean, Derek is truly a professional, nothing would ever slip past him-“

Derek distinctly heard Danny mutter ‘except a human woman.’

“-and you really are in the best of hands, honestly. We are all really close, and we pretty much know what everyone is feeling or thinking, we work really well as a team.”

“Thanks for the pitch Isaac, but this Dragon’s out. I’m not going to be investing.”

Stiles laughed at Erica, who looked way too cocky for Derek’s liking. He just needed to think of the worst possible punishment for the sarcastic creature. 

“Does anyone want some coffee? Or tea, I guess, if you are a weakling who can’t handle their caffeine.” Stiles asked, as she got up and rounded to the kitchen, filling up the kettle and turning it on before she came back to take orders.

“I’ll take a coffee, but I’ll come help you.” Isaac spoke as he stood, interrupted by a knock on the door. Everyone turned sharply, Derek motioning for them to spread out as he slowly walked towards the door, only to be pushed past by Stiles.

“Stiles!” He whispered fiercely, his anger sky rocketing when Stiles just looked over her shoulder at him and rolled her eyes. He threw his hand out to stop her, but she shrugged out of his reach and yanked the door open and flung herself outside.

“Scotty!” She gripped him tight, and Derek grabbed her shoulder, yanking her back and shoved her behind him, where Laura was waiting and grabbed her.

“Wa-hey! Let go, what the hell?”

“Who are you.” Derek snarled at Scott, who’s eyes widened ridiculously. 

“What?” Scott’s hands started raising really slowly, which elicited a snort from Stiles.

“That’s Scott, he is my brother.”

Derek turned to her, glaring at her, but she just carried on smiling. “You don’t have a brother, Stiles.”

She snorted again, “dude, he should be my brother. Anyway, he is Scott. Scott McCall,” She added his full name in a truly terribly Bond voice and struggled slightly so Laura would let her go.

“Stiles, you cannot just open the door, what if it hadn’t been Scott?” Derek looked at her, and eyebrow raised, before he pointed inside. “Go, inside. I don’t like us all being out here.” Laura grabbed Stiles, pushing her inside before she could complain, and Derek turned to Scott. “Listen here, I will allow you inside the house, but you can only sit on the couch, until I have determined without a doubt that you are no threat to Stiles.” He glared at Scott, who seemed oblivious and simply smiled, moving around Derek and into the house. He rubbed a hand down his face, knowing his betas could have been listening and would have him on the couch, forcing him to stay until Derek explicitly said he was safe. 

A car rolled by, slowly, and Derek’s anger fizzled out immediately as he took in the black SUV, dark tinted windows. He couldn’t make out faces, but he could distinctly see 4 individuals inside. He watched, clenching his jaw, as they slowly drove up the street, until they disappeared around a corner. He wasted no time in getting inside, securing the door behind him. He knew that the door wold barely hold up if Argent wanted to get in, but with wolves in the house, they could react quickly.

“Derek?”

He turned, looking down at Cora, who looked concerned. He looked back to the door, realising he had been staring at the door after locking it, before he looked back to her and shrugged, an eyebrow lifted. 

He went to Boyd, who was sat opposite Scott, and looked over his shoulder at his PC, seeing the background information he had brought up on Scott. No speeding fines, no police record. Derek knew it was possible to get around this though, to create a clean background if one had the means, and found himself glaring at Scott again.

“Ok, so I just made a pot of coffee, so go help yourself, milk and sugar are on the counter.” She sat down in the closest space to Scott, which was next to Boyd, and smiled comically at him.

“So, Scotty boy, this is my se-“ 

Her explanation was cut short by Derek’s hand, which he clapped over her mouth. He saw her roll her eyes, before she shot her tongue out and licked his palm. He didn’t even flinch. He raised an eyebrow, a slight smirk on his face as he watched her scowl. “Firstly, I grew up with Cora, who did that shit all the time. Secondly, until I determine he,” he motioned to Scott with his head, “isn’t a risk, you will not talk to him.” He waited until she rolled her eyes again, and slowly let go of her mouth, before he wiped his hand on his pants. Stiles smirked at him, hoping to have bothered him at least slightly, which didn’t seem the case, but she could still hope. 

Stiles sat, fidgeting for what felt like a lifetime until Boyd shrugged, and Derek exhaled loudly. He looked up at Scott, who STILL didn’t look perturbed at all, and clenched his jaw. “My name is Derek Hale, and I am Stiles’ head of security.”

He will forever deny that he took great pleasure in the look of shock that rushed across Scott’s face, as he blubbered ‘what’ over and over.


	7. Chapter 7

“Stiles, what would you have done if it hadn’t been Scott outside?” He tried to inflict as much anger into his voice as possible.

She shrugged. “Probably would have wondered who had his phone.” Before he could ask, she threw her phone at him, watching him catch it and frown. “Read the messages, Derek.” She hadn’t _entirely_ meant to sound like she was talking to a child, and he frowned a little more in response before he read the last string of messages.

 

 >Stiles:

Scotty, you still coming?

 <Scott:

Yeah, you said I had to. I already left home.

 <Scott:

I’m coming up your sheet

 <Scott:

Dammit, street!

 >Stiles:

Tell me when you are outside?

 <Scott:

I’m outside now?

 

Derek quickly threw the phone back at Stiles, who screeched, flinching as it hit the couch next to her. “Jerk!” She grumbled, grabbing her phone.

“My original question still stands. How were you so sure it was Scott? You can’t do this, you need to let me handle things.”

He hadn’t expected her to jump up, standing almost toe to toe with him, her fists at her side, phone tightly in her grasp. “Excuse me?”

He almost laughed at the way she asked, like she was giving him a chance to recant his statement and roll over. He lifted an eyebrow, and heard her huff. “You heard me.”

She shook with rage, her face bright red, and she took a shaky breath. “Listen here, I will not listen to you just because my stupid moron of a father is paying you! I know Scott, and I trust him, and I don’t know you, and I don’t trust you, and I didn’t even want this!” She yelled at him, and he simply stood there, not reacting, letting her vent. She hated that more, and wordlessly screamed, about to turn away from him when he grabbed her hand. Her eyes flicked to her hand in his, to his face, and he used his other hand to grab her phone, before he kept eye contact, and dropped her phone, bringing his foot down on it hard, the resounding shatter almost echoing as Stiles’ eyes grew wide.

“What the hell did you do.” She whispered, not tearing her eyes from his.

He shrugged, and opened his mouth to talk, when she lifted her free hand, the one not _still_ in his grip, and silenced him with a finger. “What. Did. You. Do.” She spoke so quietly, and Derek let himself scent the air around her. Devastation. Sadness. Anger. Anxiety. He frowned, before Scott interrupted quietly.

“Dude, you didn’t.”

Derek turned quickly to look at Scott, and back to Stiles. Tears had sprung in her eyes, and he let go of her hand, taking a step back quickly.

“My mom. All my photos.” Her voice broke, and he watched as her tears began falling, relentlessly, before Scott all but pushed past him and gathered Stiles in his arms. He was vaguely aware of Cora quietly bending to collect the fragments of phone from the floor.

He watched Stiles cry into Scott’s shoulder for a few moments, trying to block out the sound and smell of her tears, before he turned away and walked into the kitchen, grabbing the counter as he stood against it, squeezing his eyes shut to try erase the fact that he just pretty much destroyed Stiles.

“Derek?”

He turned to look at Danny, who had quietly slipped into the kitchen, carrying his laptop and the remnants of Stiles’ phone.

“I might be able to salvage the data, no promises,” he sat the pc on the counter next to Derek, and began clicking and typing away, plugging the phone into the pc, before he groaned. Derek gave up trying to keep with what he was doing, and just grasped Danny’s shoulder, silently thanking him and walking out, deciding to take a walk around the house, simply to get out of the hell hole he had created.

He heard Laura follow him out a moment later, and shut his eyes, knowing his sister was about to rip him a new one. Subtlety was never her strong suit.

“Seriously, what the hell was that?” He hadn’t moved from the front step, and she moved around to look at him. “Talk to me damnit!”

He sighed, dragging his eyes from the road to her face. “She needed one of our phones anyway. You know it’s what we always do.”

“Really? I thought we usually asked them to give us their phones temporarily for safe keeping, rather than absolutely decimating it.” He said nothing, just clenching his jaw. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

He stared blankly at the space where she stood, as she walked back inside.

“Maybe, Derek, don’t get so up your own ass.”

“Laura.” He turned to her, snarling as he flashed his eyes at her. She looked away for a second before she steeled herself and looked back at him. “I am your Alpha, I will not have you speaking to me like that.”

“Derek, for whatever reason, you have been so high and mighty since we got here. I don’t give a shit if it’s because of her sarcastic nature or her equally defensive personality, but you really hurt her.” She has started off angry, but it had tapered off to the end and she almost pleaded with him before she pursed her lips and turned to go back inside.

He stayed outside, hearing the pack talk amongst themselves, and Scott and Stiles were in her room playing some kind of video game, talking quietly. He smelled when Laura and Isaac started cooking, and he listened when everyone sat around the lounge eating and laughing. He hid when Scott left, listening to Stiles trying to convince him that she was ok. He waited until he heard Stiles say goodnight. 

He waited until the house fell silent, most of the pack sleeping in the spare room, with only Danny’s steady, alert heartbeat, his fingers flying across a keyboard. 

 

 

The next morning, Derek was seated at the kitchen table as Stiles entered, her eyes darting from his the second they made eye contact.

“Stiles, I’m really sorry.”

She acted like he hadn’t heard him, making herself a cup of coffee.

“Stiles?” He waited a few seconds, seeing her shoulders tense. She turned slowly, her mug in her hands, her expression unreadable.

“Did you know my mother died a little over 6 months ago?” She spoke quietly, but Derek could hear the fury in her words. He nodded, keeping his eyes on hers, although she was looking in her mug. “All my photos of her. They were all on my phone.” He heard her heart blip, her sadness rolling off in waves. “I never backed them up, and I know it sounds stupid, Scott tried telling me so many times, but I felt like, I dunno. If I actually went through the backup, it’s like I’m accepting she died. Like I’ll actually know for sure that she will never be able to take another picture with me.” She sniffed, and quickly wiped her eyes. “I mean, I know that, I know I won’t ever get another picture of her, but making that last step to save what I had? It was too hard.” A sob racked through her, and some coffee sloshed onto the floor. Derek was up in a second, grabbing the cup and settling it on the counter. He then stopped, watching Stiles. She had her arms wrapped around herself, crying. He stepped back. He knew she wouldn’t want him to touch her, even to comfort her.

“Laura?” He called quietly, knowing Stiles wouldn’t hear. He passed his sister as he left the kitchen, and heard her hushing Stiles as she pulled her into a tight hug.

“Morning Derek. A word?” He looked over to Danny, who looked as exhausted as he sounded. He nodded, moving over to the chair next to Danny, and sat down. “So, I’m not as great with salvaging information as I am with hacking a system, but I did my best.” He passed a flash drive to Derek, who looked at him quizzically. “It’s all I could find, I can’t tell if it’s all of it, but it’s better than nothing, right?”

Derek looked back to the small device in his palm. “What is it?”

Danny sniggered, “it’s a USB, it’s all the contents from Stiles’ phone I could retrieve.” When Derek made no move, Danny shoved him slightly on the shoulder, getting his attention. “Take it to Stiles. Say sorry.”

Derek growled lowly at Danny, and he lifted his hands up as he shook his head a little. “Just trying to help.” Danny’s immediate submission had Derek backing up too.

 “Sorry, I didn’t, I tried apologising to her! And she ignored me.”

 Danny nodded towards the USB, “maybe she will listen if you have that.” He yawned, before excusing himself and going to bed. Derek shouted thanks behind the man, only now realising this is what had kept him up. He got up slowly, and made his way back to the kitchen, stopping just before the doorway, out of sight.

 “-always such a dick?”

 Laura laughed, “you know, he _is_ my brother, and my _boss._ ”

 “And he is here.” Laura looked up as he spoke out, amused. Of course she had heard him, but Stiles was surprised, which she tried hiding quickly. “Can I have a word with Stiles alone?” Stiles looked at Laura quickly and shook her head, almost imperceptibly.

 “Sorry lovie, gotta run! My turn to get coffee and baked goods!”

 Derek watched her leave, pointedly ignoring her raised eyebrows, before he turned to sit with Stiles. She was now picking her fingers, and Derek cleared his throat three times before she looked up at him in frustration. “What Derek.”

 He put the USB on the table and pushed it towards her. “That’s for you. Along with my apology.”

 She picked it up slowly, turning it in her fingers, “what’s on it?”

“It’s a UBS.”

 Stiles laughed, a true laugh that had her eyes twinkling. “Right, so it’s actually a USB, and I asked what’s ON it, not what it is.”

 Derek looked to the ceiling as he frowned, determined that the heat he felt was definitely not a blush. “Your phone things.”

 “What?”

 He nodded at the USB. “I’m sorry about your phone, everything we could retrieve from it is now on that.”

 She fell silent, her mouth slightly open as she looked at the small blue object, which began swimming in her vision. “Thank you.” Her voice small, and utterly broken, tears tracking down her face.

 He nodded again, before he stood up and went to check the doors and windows were locked, and that Danny was sleeping. Then he checked how much water was in the kettle. Topped it up a little. And checked if the doors were locked. Again.


	8. Chapter 8

Later, when Laura had arrived with all her bags of pastries and pies and a truly incredible tower of cups of coffee, Derek had already begun discussing the weekly and possibly monthly tasks, and they began putting together a daily schedule together, with Stiles’ input. They worked with her plans for college and the few days of work she did, along with any times she may need to go shopping.

It worked out that every second day Derek would spend the afternoon and evening with Stiles, and another member would work between that, each taking shifts of either morning to afternoon, afternoon to night, or night to morning. Derek stayed back, leaving Laura and Erica to take Stiles out shopping. Derek had been so happy he wasn’t roped into that. Danny had been following up on information regarding Gerard, and so far, nothing new had come up. Mr. Stilinski had been in contact, stating he also had heard nothing new.

Derek had also decided that each member would patrol the street, as inconspicuously as possible, which explains Boyd outside, cleaning the Camaro, with Isaac watering the garden when Boyd didn’t need the hose.

Stiles had, thankfully, said it was ok that someone was in the room while she slept, as long as they were ok with a bed on the floor. She had surprised everyone when she reached under her bed, grabbing a handle, and dragged out a mattress on wheels. No one had an argument for that, and so life went on. Stiles left with Laura and Erica, Cora was running errands in town for the team, and Derek was trying to finalize all the plans for the next few days.

He hadn’t spoken to Stiles since this morning, and he was sure she was avoiding him now. He heard her gasp when Danny had shown her all the pictures he had managed to save, and since then she had been quiet, keeping to herself before she loudly exclaimed that she needs chocolate.

 

“Derek?”

He looked up at Danny and watched as he sat on the couch opposite him.

“I did some research on Stilinksi.”

He raised his eyebrows, intrigued.

“I’m talking about Stiles.”

His brows lowered, he wasn’t expecting that.

Danny looked pleased, and leaned back, crossing his arms. “Did you know that she has a couple of ‘non-existent’ warnings?”

“What the hell is that?”

“Well, pretty much exactly what it sounds like. She has ruffled quite a few feathers, including Mrs. Argent, the non-related protégé of Gerard.”

Derek hung his head, “what did she do?”

“Apparently, she had a fight with Victoria, who was working at the school. And she decided to try even the score after she was given detention and spray-painted evil stick women all over Victoria’s car.”

Derek closed his eyes, and growled, “so the sheriff got rid of the warnings?”

“Looks that way. Now, with him in hot water with Gerard, wow I didn’t mean for it to sound like that but moving on, Gerard is probably angry on behalf of Victoria, which explains why he seems eager to get revenge on Stiles, which is probably _why_ Gerard has been making insinuations.”

“Thanks, Danny, I appreciate it. Put it all on the board, I’ll try to talk to her tonight and see what else Stiles has done that we might not know about.”

 

Derek decided to get up and do something, needing to expend some energy and went to grab his running gear. He’d be able to scope the neighborhood as he ran, so changed quickly, before telling the others to hang around, and to call if there were any issues. He headed out the door and swallowed back a groan when he saw the car pull up, with Laura, Erica, and Stiles climbing out.

“Where you off to Der?” He looked at Laura, trying to convey how much he didn’t appreciate her joking tone, without flashing his eyes. “Hey, don’t give me that look, I was just asking because apparently, Stiles likes to run.” Derek looked quickly at Stiles who groaned and then tried to cover it up by coughing, her cheeks blood red.

He hesitated, before deciding that if she was going to go out, and he was heading out, he owed t to the team to take her, and not force one of them to go later. “Sure, go get dressed.” He left little room for argument and smirked when Stiles turned to glare at Laura.

She stomped past, shutting the door loudly behind her, and Erica sniggered, “Derek, she is going to kill you if you keep demanding she do things, you realize that right?” She didn’t wait for a response and headed inside, leaving a smirking Laura leaning against the car.

“So, little bro, why is it that you have all this pent-up energy?”

He growled at her, ending abruptly when the door opened, and Stiles unhappily walked down the steps. “You better not ditch me,” she snapped at him, and he turned to raise an eyebrow at her.

“Really? I’m your head of security, and you think I take my job so flippantly that I’d leave you somewhere?”

She said nothing, and sighed before she started running down the drive. He followed, giving Laura one last quiet growl before he caught up to Stiles. They were running slower than he would have liked, but he was pleased that she could at least _run._ He’d had visions of her needing breaks often or wheezing breaths as her only contribution.

“I used to run. At school I mean. Never got out of the habit.”

He looked down at her, before looking back at the road, “how far do you normally go?”

“About 6k’s, can you keep up?”

He laughed, and saw she smiled a little as she looked up, “yes Stiles, I think I’ll manage to keep up, but thanks for asking.”

She sped up, and Derek smiled, deciding to one-up her and run a little faster, making her catch up. “Jesus, are you part cheetah?”

He laughed again, “nope, definitely not cheetah.”

She stayed silent, trying to keep up to his ridiculous pace before she began slowing incrementally, and Derek said nothing, slowing with her as inconspicuously as possible. He looked around, Stiles’ heartbeat loud in his ears, and realized he should have been paying attention to the houses, to the people, to the cars. He surveyed for almost one kilometer before he stopped abruptly, staring at the black SUV parked outside of the nondescript house. He was sure, almost 100%, that this was the car he’d seen. He looked up at Stiles, who had turned back to him, walking slowly over to him.

“I thought you could keep up,” she joked, her eyes glinting.

“Can you stay here a moment? Like right here, don’t move.”

She nodded and watched as he walked over to the car, trying to look as non-suspicious as possible. When he was close enough, he took a sniff, peeking in the window. He could smell something that was familiar, but he couldn’t place it. He ran back to Stiles, and placed a hand on her lower back, “come, let's go.” He urged her forward, heading home, all while keeping silent, extra vigilant of their surroundings. Once they reached the house, he guided her up the stairs first, feeling relief when she was inside. He called out, quietly so only the team would hear, and they all filtered outside swiftly.

“I need something from Gerard. I saw an SUV yesterday, and it slowed in front of the house, and I’m sure I just saw it again, a few streets away. I scented it, but I need his scent to know what I’m scenting.” They all nodded, and he gestured for them to go back inside, and he headed to the bathroom. He stopped short when he heard the shower running, and realized Stiles would have beat him in. He shook his head as he went to sit at the dining table, resting his head in his hands. He listened to the sound of the team arranging, amongst themselves, for some to leave to scout for Gerard’s scent, and the others spread out in the house, talking on their respective phones to gather further information from a variety of sources.

As the bathroom door opened, Derek looked up, and quickly glanced down when Stiles looked at him. She quickly scurried to her room, her door closing. He stood, looking back at her door, the image of her in only a towel flicking through his mind before he shook his head and went to shower.

He was interrupted by a loud knocking, and before he could answer the door flung open, and Isaac walked in, ignoring Derek’s growl. “A package just arrived. For Stiles.”

Derek stood stock still for a second before he turned the shower off and grabbed a towel, wrapping it hastily around his waist and followed Isaac to the kitchen, where Stiles’ loud voice could be heard.

“It has my name on it, I want to open it.”

“Stiles, don’t be ridiculous, we don’t know-“

“Laura its mine though, look, S-T-I-L-E-S. That’s me, not you.”

 

Derek grabbed the parcel and turned on his heal heading for the bathroom, remembering to lock the door behind him. Stiles’ fist pounding on the door was a second too late, but Derek ignored her in favor of sniffing the box, smelling the same scent as the one on the SUV. He popped a claw, and carefully slid it through the tape holding the box shut and glanced under the flaps to check for any wiring. He saw nothing and smelled nothing odd, so opened the box, and stared inside. He unlocked the door, and Stiles came sprawling in, barrelling into his chest so he had to hold her up with one hand. He glanced at how she was pressed against his naked chest, before he lowered the box, and showed her inside.

She reached in and touched the fabric, frowning. “This is mine?”

He nodded, “I assumed as much.”

She pulled the clothes out, frowning when she realized it was the jeans and shirt she had been searching for. “I looked for these, where would I have left them?” She grabbed the box, looking for a return address, missing Derek shaking his head.

“Stiles, it means they were in your house.”

She stopped, looking up at him suddenly, “what?”

He nodded, striding past her and into the spare room, grabbing some clothes and dressing before he went to the kitchen, where Stiles had dropped the box.

“Danny, when did they get into the house?”

He shook his head, shrugging from behind his laptop, “not since we put the cameras up. It was before.”

Derek nodded, sighing in relief that they hadn’t actually missed someone breaking in. he knew the chances were slim, but Gerard didn’t seem to play by normal rules. He frowned and looked at Laura, who narrowed her eyes at him. “Derek and I are going to get coffee.”

He said nothing, leading the way out of the house, and listened to Laura lock the door. He got into the Camaro and waiting until her door was shut, her eyebrow high. “What?”

“I think Gerard knows about us. About werewolves.”


	9. Chapter 9

“What makes you think that?”

He shook his head as he started the car and drove to the house he had seen the SUV at. The car was gone, and he frowned. “I went over to the car, if he saw me, and if he knows, he would have realized I was scenting the car. Maybe that’s why he sent the clothes, to let me know he got in once.”

“Yes, Derek, _once._ Now we are here-“

“Wolfsbane, Laura. If he knows about us, he might use wolfsbane to get in.” She shut her mouth audibly and looked at the house. “We need to re-secure the house.”

She looked over at him suddenly, “and how the hell do we do that with Stiles in the house?”

He shook his head, “I don’t know.”

He drove off, knowing he would need to get coffee unless he wanted a riot on his hands, and they sat in silence the entire way, both trying to come up with a plan to get Stiles out long enough so they could do actual renovations to the house.

“Maybe we have to tell her.” He shot a look at her, but she didn’t back down, “Derek how else do we explain that we need an underground tunnel? And that we need to install an air-filter to recycle all internal air? That we need an extra front door, so we have a second line of defense?”

He growled lowly, storming into the Starbucks and getting the coffee alone. When his large order was finally complete, he carried to the car finding Laura standing outside, waiting.

“What if we move base?”

She shook her head, “Stiles isn’t going to move. Not without reason.”

He passed her the coffee, and got in himself, starting off back to her houses. “We can’t just tell her.” He spoke quietly but somehow knew there might not be a way around this.

He opened the doors for Laura and smiled without meaning when the team took a cup each and thanked them. Stiles smiled at him, and it made him look away, ashamed of how she was probably in more danger now.

“Stiles we need to talk.”

“Us?” She motioned between herself and his chest, making him nod. “Um, ok.”

They sat at the dining table, and Derek stared at the table, looking as if he was trying to set it on fire.

“So, you are gonna have to start because I don’t know what you want to talk about.”

He looked up at her and made a sudden, reckless decision. “We are werewolves.”

He saw how she paled, swallowing slightly, before she tried to lighten her expression, “so funny Derek, wow, werewolves, really?” She scoffed, shaking her head. He heard the way her heart was hammering, but he knew she was lying. He could smell the sourness that came with denial.

“Stiles don’t pretend.” He noticed the team around the corner, eyes trained on his face as they tried to decipher what he was doing.

“I’m not.” She sat, crossing her arms, slowing her breathing to slow her heart.

He leaned forward, grabbing the bull by the horns, and flashed his eyes at her. She took a small breath before she bit her lip.

“This is why he chose you.” She got up, slamming her hand on the table, “I said I wasn’t involved, I didn’t want to be, and this is what he does?”

She raced from the room, grabbing her car key before a large hand enclosed hers. She looked from the hand to the offending face and scowled when she saw Derek. “Let me go.” He shook his head. “Derek, I’m going to murder my father, let me go.”

He laughed at that, using his other hand to free her car key, sliding it into the front pocket of his jeans. She watched him do it before she continued scowling at him. “I’m not letting you leave. You have a lot to tell me.”

“Screw that, and screw you,” she screeched, “you lied to me!”

His eyebrows lifted, “how so?”

“You didn’t tell me you were a werewolf, Derek.”

“You didn’t tell me you knew about werewolves, so I didn’t know I should’ve told you I was one.” He countered quickly, and steadily.

She huffed, “Derek, give me my key.” He shook his head. “I’ll take it.”

“Go for it.” She took that as an invite, and shoved her hand in his pocket, both of them pulling back when she touched something that was definitely _not_ the car key. She steeled herself, and went back in, only to have Derek turned her quickly by her shoulders, holding her back against his chest. “I’m not letting you leave until you tell me what you know. Then, and only then, will I take you to John, and I will help you eviscerate him if that’s what you want.” He knew she wouldn’t actually want to hurt him, just that she needed to blow off some steam and yell at the man, which Derek was all on board for.

She stopped struggling and dropped her shoulders. “Fine.”

He let her go, and she stalked off into her room. He motioned for no one to follow and listened to her rummaging, returning a couple of minutes later with a shoe box. She walked past, straight into her lounge, and threw the box on the coffee table. “This is all the supernatural information I kept off my board.”

Danny and Isaac immediate moved around her, rifling through the documents and pictures before Isaac held a piece of paper out to Derek. He took it carefully and looked at the photo. There was a woman, definitely a were, judging by the lens flare from her, with a small child seated on her lap.

“That’s my mom.” She spoke quietly and sat down. Derek looked at Danny, who was already on his PC.

“Wow, I can’t believe I missed that.”

Derek moved around to look over his shoulder and looked at the pictures Danny pointed at, the pictures he had saved for Stiles. Her mother, in each and every one, was always looking just off from the camera, or her eyes were shut entirely.

He looked back to where Stiles was slouched on the couch, and crouched in front of her, “Stiles, what happened?”

She shrugged, “he never told me everything. Just said that mom had gotten in the crossfire.”

He looked at her, a couple things falling into place. “Because she was a werewolf?”

“And him.”

“Him?”

She sighed, “John, my fucking you know what.”

He almost snorted, “right. So, what makes you think he hired us because we are werewolves?”

She stared at him as if he as crazy for several tense moments, “why wouldn’t he?”

“He doesn’t know. At least to the best of my knowledge. It’s not something I tell people.”

She shrugged, “you have no idea who he is then.” He cocked his head, and she sighed, “maybe we need to visit him. Then you can interrogate him and leave me alone.”

He lifted his brow, “are you saying that you think, if I talk to him, I’ll stop watching you?”

She nodded, a hopeful expression on her face, which he watched fall when he shook his head, “that’s not going to happen. Even if I find out vital information from John, you are still a target.”

“Let’s go hit him.” She grumbled, standing suddenly, her fists on the table, and he raised his brows at her. “Come, let’s go.” She moved, and he stood up, shrugging at the team. He took Boyd and Erica with, and the 4 of them got int the Camaro.

“Where will he be now?”

She turned to look at him quickly, “how would I know?”

He sighed, winding the window down and yelling for Danny.

“Yeah?”

“Where will he be now?”

Danny laughed, darting inside for a moment, before he came back out, handing Derek a piece of paper with an address. “Thanks, Danny, see you later.”

He took off, heading to the factory in question, hoping to get Stilinski to talk.


	10. Chapter 10

They walked in, the men outside taking one look at Derek, and then one at Stiles before they stepped aside. Stiles and Derek shared a look, before entering, and were no more than 5 steps in when a man stepped forward, his cheap suit not fitting as well as it could have.

“Stiles?”

She looked up at him, her jaw set, and although she looked at him, she didn’t acknowledge him. He waited a moment, his eyes taking in all the details about her, and turned to Derek.

“Mr. Hale, it’s a pleasure you meet you.”

“Mr. Stilinksi, I presume?”

The man nodded, and Derek saw Stiles cross her arms from the corner of his eyes. “And why did you come to see me?”

She huffed, and Derek elbowed her lightly, getting her to bite her cheek, looking away from them both.

“We need to speak to you, privately.”

John regarded Derek for a moment before he turned and led them to a small office, gesturing for them to sit down. Stiles did, while Derek, Erica and Boyd knew what sitting down would look like to another were. Derek saw John clench his jaw before he sat behind the desk.

“What do you know about Gerard?”

John sat back, touching his fingertips together, eyeing Derek. “Why are you asking?”

“I’m asking because Stiles got another parcel, because Gerard has been in her house, and because I wasn’t aware of your,” he cocked his head a little to the left before righting it again, “skillset.”

John flashed his red eyes in response, and Stiles sighed, her head falling in her hands. “Fucking shit storm that is my life,” she mumbled, shaking her head.

“Stiles, I-“

“Oh, shut up.” She glared at him, and Derek saw the flashing of eyes behind the office window, and flashed his in return, buying them a little time. “You screwed up my entire life, because of what? Huh? You think I don’t know about the money you were siphoning from Gerard?” Derek felt a pang of pride at the way he blanched at her words, “yeah, I’m not stupid. I heard enough chit chat from people after mom died.”

She sat back, glaring at him, and he sighed, shaking his head before he settled, “you don’t understand everything.”

She spread her arms wide, “so inform me, tell me. What don’t I know?”

He stared at her for a moment, before sitting forward, “I bit your mother.” She clenched her jaw, a shiver working down her spine. “We thought we had no other way. It was the right thing at the time, the right choice, but in the end,” he trailed off, looking away from them.

“In the end it killed her.” She spoke quietly, and he nodded.

“What did you do to piss Gerard off?”

John looked at Derek, silent for a moment, “I, there was a shipment coming in. I,” he trailed off, and Stiles looked up.

“You misappropriated it?”

He nodded at her, closing his eyes. “Thought we’d be out of here fast enough, but Gerard knew. That’s when he first contacted me.”

“Saying?”

He looked up at Derek and noted Boyd writing in a notebook. “That Stiles was finished with her lacrosse practice and was going home. I knew something was wrong, and I went straight to her house, but Claudia was dead.”

“How?”

His eyes shot up, red, “ripped apart, Derek, how the fuck do you think they killed her?”

Derek didn’t move, didn’t even breathe differently, but Stiles jumped in her chair. Derek reached over, placing his hand on her forearm, “I understand if you don’t want to be here, Erica can-“

She wiped a tear from her eye and looked past Derek to her father, “you told everyone it was a car crash.”

His eyes dimmed, looking down at his desk, “I had no choice. I needed to cover it up.”

“I wish he had gotten to you instead. If I ever meet him, I’m telling him exactly where you are.” She spoke so quietly, and they all heard how steady her heart was. 

John swallowed, and nodded incrementally. “If it saves you, then do it.”

“How does he know about us?”

He looked at Derek, “comes from a long line of hunters.”

“Hunters? Are you fucking kidding me?” Erica spat out, and Boyd grabbed her arm, settling her.

“How did you start working for him?”

“You know the business.”

“I most assuredly do not, Stilinski,” Derek flashed his eyes without meaning to, “I have never been involved in anything illegal in my life.”

“Fine, he needed guns, I could supply.”

“Jesus every time you open your mouth you make me want to go feral.” Erica snarled, backing down once Derek glanced her way.

“What made you think that was even a good idea?”

“A business partner.” Derek raised his brow, but John shook his head, “I won’t disclose his name.”

Stiles stood suddenly and grabbed a pen, throwing it against his head, her chest heaving as it bounced off and clattered on the floor. No one moved, aside from Stiles drawing huge breaths until John slowly stood. “You have no idea what I’ve done in my life, for you.” He snarled, his voice low, and Derek took a step forward, placing himself between the desk and Stiles, hiding her from his sight, but she sidestepped him, her glare almost feral.

“Yes, so many great things. Like leaving mom, leaving _me._ Never giving a reason why. Getting her KILLED!” She screamed, her hand coming up to grip Derek’s bicep, “you have done nothing but mess up my life, because now? I might die, because of you. That will all be on you, and I’ll make sure everyone knows it.” She turned, and opened the door with so much force it wobbled, smacking into the wall. Derek didn’t excuse himself, and followed Stiles to the car, growling lowly when one of the men outside tried to impede their path. He moved quickly, and Stiles got in, covering her face immediately. 

“Derek, Boyd and I are going to walk back. Recon.”

He turned to look at them both, “really?”

Boyd nodded, “probably best if the car wasn’t unnecessarily full.” They immediately walked away, and Derek looked back to the passenger window. He could see her shoulders twitching, her fingers digging into her forehead. He quickly strode to his side of the car, and got in, before pausing slightly. He wanted to comfort her, he _knew_ she needed comfort, but would she want it from him?

“Stiles?” He spoke quietly and gasped when she threw herself towards him, hiding her face in his chest. He slowly placed his arms around her as best he could, looking down at the back of her head. He began to rumble, a soothing sound his mother used when the pack was upset. She froze for a moment, before she relaxed, and cried a little harder. 

She eventually stopped crying, and moved to sit upright, her chest and shoulders jumping with her double breathing. He offered her his hand, and she looked from it to his face, before she took it. He started the car, and left, feeling better the further he got from the factory.

“Can we stop for milkshakes?”

She spoke so low, he knew she was speaking low because she knew he could hear better than the average man. He nodded, “anywhere specific?”

She nodded, sniffing, “um, that place on 5 th ?”

He nodded, knowing the place, and they drove in silence. He stole glances at her, watching as she regained a normal breathing pattern, and feeling how she played with his fingers. She ran her fingertips across his nail-beds before she ran her fingers over his knuckles. He wasn’t sure what she was doing and realized she didn’t either when she suddenly shook her head and dropped his hand. He left it over the console for a heartbeat, pulling it to the wheel when he realized she wasn’t going to pick it up again. 

“Sorry, I guess I was distracted.” She whispered, looking out of the window.

“I assumed as much.” He spoke quietly, calmly, but looked ahead with his jaw clenched. 


	11. Chapter 11

“Where were you guys?”

They were bombarded the moment the Camaro pulled up, and Derek raised his brows, “I know that you know exactly where we were. You can track my phone, my car, and her phone.”

No one argued, so he knew he was right.

“Yeah well, you were gone ages.”

He shrugged, looking after Stiles as she walked into her room, closing the door. “She needed to relax. And she eats so slow.” They all chuckled and began to separate, Derek going into the kitchen to cook. He had started to fry up mince when he heard Stiles sneak in quietly. 

“Want help?”

He looked back at her, and nodded, “sure. I’m making spaghetti for dinner.”

She looked in the pot, “what else is in there?”

He looked at the mince before he looked at her, “um, mince, why?”

She sniggered, “wow, the mince looking stuff _is_ mince? Crazy. This isn’t how you make spaghetti though,” she went around the small kitchen, and grabbed an armful of ingredients, before hip checking Derek, getting him to move with a chuckle.

“No one has ever complained about it before.”

She shrugged, looking up at him, “probably because you are the Alpha.” She saw his expression change slightly, “yes, I know what red eyes mean, Derek.” She focused on the pot, adding garlic, herbs, salt, and pepper. She also grabbed some sun-dried tomato and chopped them before she threw them in.

“Who taught you to cook?”

“Melissa, Scott’s mom.” She shrugged, mixing the now-flavourful mince, “my mom wasn’t big on cooking. And she was Polish, so when she did cook? It was jellied pigs feet or sausage made from pigs blood and offal.” She shuddered, “disgusting.” 

He laughed, and grabbed a pot to start boiling the water. “my mom makes the best seafood paella, she learned from a friend of hers apparently, but it’s the one meal the whole pack loves, which is not an easy feat with over 20 individuals.”

She looked up at him, placing the spoon onto the counter, “this isn’t your pack?” She gestured to the others in the other rooms.

“Yes, they are my pack, but we are a small off-branch, my mom is the Alpha of the pack at home,” he looked at the boiling pot, “in California.”

“Wow, that’s far.”

He nodded, “yeah, but that’s ok. We are all happy here.”

“Why did you move?”

He looked at her quickly, “I started this business here.”

She nodded, looking at the mince for several silent seconds. “Thank you, for earlier. In the car.”

He bumped his shoulder into hers without thinking, getting her to look up at him, “for what?”

She shrugged, her cheeks reddening, “my mom used to do the subsonic growl. Always made me feel better.”

He nodded, although she wasn’t looking at him, her gaze far off. “I’m sorry about your mom.”

She nodded, a stray tear tracking down her cheek, “I can’t believe he lied to me. She died at home, I,” she swallowed, shaking her head vigorously. 

“Hey, hey,” he grabbed her arm, and she looked up at him through teary eyes, “listen to me, ok? I can promise you one thing, your mom would have been comforted by your scent. When she knew she was dying, she would have been happy it could be close to you, without you being there to witness it.” She cried, shutting her eyes tight, and he pulled her close, wrapping his arms all the way around her small shoulders. Laura came in and gestured for him to move and she continued on the food while Derek led Stiles to her room, sitting on her bed with her, resuming his low rumble for her.

He moved them up the bed eventually, needing to rest against the wall, and she went with him, with no complaints or hesitations. He held her close, her head on his chest, neither saying anything. He listened to the sound of her heartbeat slowing and smiled when he no longer smelled tears. He sat with her, his arms around her, until she fell asleep, lulled by his rumbling and the slow, steady beat of his heart. 

He waited until he was sure she was asleep, and slowly moved her, smiling when she didn’t stir as he got up, and closed the door behind him. He turned, and a plate of food was hovering under his nose. 

“Thank fuck,” he said, grabbing the plate and the fork, shoveling some food into his mouth as he winked at Laura, making her laugh and shake her head.

“Bloody animal,” she walked towards the lounge, and Derek followed, seeing the room was empty.

“Where’s everyone?” He listened for the heartbeats, but only heard Laura’s, Stiles’ own, and what sounded like Erica and Boyd’s in the spare room, both asleep by the sound of it.

“They all left, figured Stiles needed space.” He raised an eyebrow at her, and she sniggered, “it’s sad that I know what you are non-verbally asking, and no, they aren’t far. Isaac and Cora are in your car, Danny went to a café for some peace so he could find more info.” He nodded, settling on the couch and closing his eyes. “Is she ok?”

He opened his eyes to look at her, shrugging, “probably not. I’m guessing Erica told you everything.” Laura nodded, “she's pretty bent out of shape that her mom died at home. Can’t say I blame her.”

She nodded, “so what do we do now?”

He looked at her, listening to make sure no one else was awake. “I think we have officially lost the job.” Her brows lowered dangerously, and he nodded, “Stilinksi was pissed when we left. I’m assuming we will be told, sometime soon, that he wants us out.”

Her jaw hung lose for a second before she shook with anger, her face turning red, hissing out at him to avoid waking the house, “and what, we _leave_ her?”

He shook his head, “no. I can’t leave her, knowing that someone is threatening her.”

“So?”

He shrugged, “see what happens. We might need to go home.”

“And Stiles?”

He nodded, “of course, I’m not leaving her defenseless.”

She clenched her jaw, and grabbed his hand, her eyes softening, “let's hope it doesn’t get that far.”

He nodded, and hugged her, before standing, “it’s my night with Stiles,” he frowned, shaking his head, “it’s my turn to watch her.”

Laura sniggered, “yeah I know what you meant, I’ll probably be up for a while, so you might as well actually sleep.”

He looked at her, not knowing how she always knew when he was a little sleep deprived. She shrugged a shoulder, and smirked, waving him off as she grabbed the TV remote.

He turned, grabbing a shower before bed, and pulled on a thin pair of cotton PJ pants. In this heat, he preferred to sleep without the restrictions of clothes, but he knew no one really appreciated that. He slowly opened Stiles’ door, and shut it behind him, seeing she was still asleep. He quickly settled into the bed on the floor, and sighed, letting his tense muscles relax, and breathed deeply. He was just edging on sleep when he heard her move, and his eyes shot open, watching her stand.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to wake you up,” she whispered, grabbing stuff from her wardrobe, “just wanted a shower.”

“Ok,” he spoke quietly, watching her slip from the room, and listened to her shower, and looked at her when she came back in. “You all right?”

She nodded, “yeah, I feel better after the shower.” She got into bed, and sighed, her face turned up to the ceiling.

“You wanna talk about it?”

She bit her lip, and turned to look down at him, her head resting on her forearm, “I want to bring him down.”

“Gerard?” His eyebrows were lost in his hairline at her comment.

“No, John. I want to break him.”

Derek moved so he was resting on his elbow, his body turned to her, “why?”

“Why not? He took everything from me, it’s only fair that he feels that too.”

“Don’t you think he suffered when your mom died?” He recalled the heavy scent of grief John emitted whenever Claudia was brought up.

“In all honesty?” He nodded, his face slightly illuminated by the street lights outside, “I don’t actually care. He left her, for whatever reason. He left me. I don’t care if her dying hurt him, because she was all I had. He has whatever else he has done since he left. I lost her, I lost my mom.” He waited, thinking she would cry, but she shook herself slightly, regaining control, “I understand if you won’t help me. I know you haven’t done anything illegal-“

“Who said it has to be illegal?”

She went silent, sitting up to look at him.

“It doesn’t have to be illegal, Stiles. We, you can bring him down other ways. He is already doing things that are illegal, he told us that much, we just have to bring that to light.”

She was still for a moment before she slid from her bed onto her knees next to him, her eyes wide, “you’ll help me?”

He nodded, “of course,” sitting up, he patted the bed next to him so she would sit properly, “we have Danny. We can find out everything, he has found so much already, but we haven’t focused on what your, I mean, John, we haven’t focused on what John is doing. If we do that, I know Danny will find something we can use.”

She flung her arms around his neck, laughing giddily in his ear, “thank you, you don’t know how much this means,” she whispered, before pulling away. 

She looked at him, her hands still on his shoulders, and they both became acutely aware of the limited space between them. She licked her bottom lip, before sucking it into her mouth, her teeth biting into the soft flesh. He moved a hand, tentatively, to her hip, before his eyes flashed of their own accord, and he shook his head. He pushed her away, staggering to his feet, vaguely aware of Stiles calling out to him. He grabbed the door handle, opening it to see a strangers face. He had barely lifted his lip in a snarl when the wolfsbane became too strong, and his vision went black.


End file.
